The present invention relates to a collar system incorporated into a firefighter's coat. This invention represents an improvement over the construction disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,547, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The above patent explains the importance of maintaining water-tight integrity at the juncture of the outer shell and the collar portion of the coat. This is a particular problem when the thermal liners employed with such coats are removable from the shell and collar portion of the coat to enable cleaning protocols to be carried out.
The above patent also discusses the prior art and the problems associated therewith. The objective of the present invention is to provide water-tight integrity at the juncture of the body portion of the shell and the collar portion of the coat, while providing an arrangement which permits a separate thermal liner to be removed from the body portion and the collar portion to be washed and dried when desired. The present invention incorporates a construction which provides superior results when used in firefighting operations.